Systems Thinking and Social Capabilities: Toward a More Inclusive View of Engineering Competencies for High Performance in Sociotechnical Enterprises Dr. Wiljeana Glover, MIT LAI Dr. Donna Rhodes, MIT SEAri Dr. Heidi Davidz, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne LAI Knowledge Exchange Event April 10, 2012 Welcome and Introductions Name Organization Interest in the Topic 2 Overview Motivation for STS View of Team, Org, and Enterprise Competencies Presentations Workshop/Brainstorming/Discussion Next Steps Ind. Team Systems Thinking Org. Social Capabilities Technical Attitudinal Behavioral Ent. Level of Observation SOCIOtechnical Systems Perspective Performance Topics for Knowledge Exchange Event: April 2012 Defining and discussing future empirical studies and practitioner insights on collaborative systems thinking Defining the set of social capabilities for consideration: e.g., external perspective, internal processes, management support, relational coordination – When examining engineering work, is there a factor that we are perhaps missing that should be considered? Impact of level of analysis: individual team organization/system interorganizational/enterprise/SoS Impact of heterogeneity/cross-functionality of the work: e.g., systems engineering teams v. program management v. SE/Project Management interactions What is the impact of collaborative systems thinking and social skills on performance (e.g., improved efficiency, quality, radical innovation)? Motivation Several Studies, but Piecemeal approach to area Great Interest in the community No research agenda at a community level Ongoing practitioner community activities 5 From Individual to Team & Organizational Competencies, and Beyond… Hahn, 1/23/2012: “But, without organizational competency in SE it will be difficult for competent individual SEs to succeed in their organizational context” Figure from: Pyster, A., D. Olwell, J. Anthony, S. Enck, N. Hutchison, and A. Squires. 2011 (eds). A Guide to the Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge (SEBoK). Hoboken, NJ: Stevens Institute of Technology. Available at: www.sebokwiki.org. 6 Systems Thinking and Social Capabilities Social Capabilities The social and motivational traits and behaviors that influence performance Influenced by Sociotechnical Systems Theory (Emery & Trist, Understanding, architecting 1960) and developing Includes Interpersonal organizational structures, Skills, psychosocial traits, policy system, processes, etc. knowledgebase, and Systems Thinking Enterprise perspective, acknowledging interconnectedness of product system with enterprise system that develops and sustains it – e.g., Trust, Confidence, enabling technologies as Empathy, Self-control, part of the overall Psychological Safety engineering system It is not enough to understand systems thinking in individuals but also how it emerges in groups and enterprises (Lamb, 2008) 7 Agenda 9:00 – 9:15am 9:15 – 9:30am 9:30 – 9:55am 9:55 – 10:20am 10:20 – 10:45am 10:45 – 11:00am 11:00 – 11:25am 11:25 – 11:50am 11:50 – 12:15pm 12:15 – 1:00pm Welcome and Introductions of Participants Review of Agenda and Kickoff Presentation: Systems Thinking and Social Competencies, Dr. Wiljeana Glover, MIT LAI Round-robin of Presentations (20 minutes + 5 minute discussion for each) Dr. Donna Rhodes, MIT LAI & Systems Engineering Advancement Research Initiative The Big Picture: Historical View of Systems Thinking and Social Competencies in Research and in Practice Dr. Josef Oehmen, MIT LAI Motivating Example: Socially-related Lean Enablers for Systems Engineering and Program Management (INCOSE and PMI Study) Dr. Heidi Davidz, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Systems Engineering Competency: Industrial Perspectives Break Dr. Danielle Wood, Alumna, MIT Engineering Systems Division Motivating Example: Systems Thinking Development and Capability Building in Established and Emerging Space Programs Mr. George Rebovich, The MITRE Corporation Motivating Example: Social and Technical Success Patterns in Systems Engineering of IT Intensive Systems (MITRE Study) Dr. Wiljeana Glover From Teams to Organizations and Inter-organizations: Measures of Systems Thinking and Social Competencies from Production and Healthcare Lunch break. Defining groups and facilitators. 8 Agenda 1:00 – 2:00pm Workshops: Identifying Future Studies and Practical Implementations for Team/Org/Enterprise Competencies 3 groups 45 minutes collection 15 minutes documentation 2:00 – 2:15pm Break 2:15 – 2:55pm Report-out of group findings 5 minutes report-out per group 5 minutes discussion per group 2:30 – 3:00pm Planning session/Next Steps Plans for Systems Engineering Research Agenda Paper Executing key studies in research agenda o Approach o Potential Participating Companies and Professional Groups o Timeline 3:15pm – 3:45pm Feedback and Wrap Up; Adjourn 9 Outcomes Linking systems thinking and social competencies Preliminary documentation of current best practices in systems thinking and social competencies within team-, organization-, and enterprise-level competency models Develop plans and timeline for publication of this preliminary documentation and research agenda in Systems Engineering Develop time and determine potential participants for additional studies of team-, organization-, and enterprise-level competency model use, their inclusion of systems thinking and social competencies, and impact on performance 10